A Study of Women’s Struggle in Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence

Abstract

The fight for women, her quest to discover and sustain herself as a wife, mother, and most importantly, a human being, is Shashi Deshpande's primary concern within the framework of contemporary Indian society. Using a perceptual technique, Deshpande often has a heroine narrate her stories. 'That Long Silence' is Deshpande's way of introducing the reader to the narrative of Jaya and Manohar, a married couple who endure life's essential challenges side by side. The author's premise is that middle-class Indian families generally let their women to quietly endure the tyranny of males, and that those who are unwell are often neglected or even killed. The protagonist, a woman named Jaya, ultimately chooses to speak up after keeping quiet for seventeen years. In this book, Shashi Deshpande manages to transform Jaya's anguish into a groundbreaking idea that helps her discover who she is. Suffering is a woman's everlasting insecurity, and it shows. Without considering their wishes, ambitions, and needs, our family and community place an enormous burden on their shoulders. In depicting reality, Shashi Deshpande never meant to go against men. Passionate feminism is another label she goes by.